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Forum:Strategy/Tactics Discussion
I was wondering if people would be interested in some sort of organized sub-forum for discussing methods of game play. This would be particularily useful for beginners trying to figure out how to play. I've already seen some discusion of how to start the game, that is what wizard to choose, what books, etc. That sort of thing is usually called Grand Strategy. I would also like to see some discussion of the other levels of play detail: Strategy: This is what general plan you develop to deal with the particular set of circumstances you face once the game starts. The AI chosen Wizard Objectives are an example of Strategy, though very limited. Choosing what to build with what priorities is part of Strategy. Operations: This is how you deal with a specific situation, for example if your empire is being attacked from two directions simultaniously, or what to do when behind in magical power, or any number of other things. Tactics: This is what to do during a battle, how to combine different unit types for maximum effect, and so on. So, to start things off I will talk a bit about my own current concepts in each level of play. I'm pretty much of a beginner, so some of my thoughts may seem laughable to experienced players. I just want to get discussions going. My Grand Strategy I prefer to choose my wizard randomly. (I do this sort of thing in all games I play.) I use the custom menu, but roll dice for everything. My view is that you don't have any choice in how you're born, how you start in life. You just have to play the best you can with whatever hand your dealt. My Strategy I try to be Mr. Nice Guy as long as possible. I build only the minimum military units possible to protect my towns. I give settlers top priority, followed by buildings that increase worker production and food production. Religion is a very low priority. However at some point someone attacks me and then I teach them they shouldn't do that, since by then my productivity is much higher than theirs, if all has gone according to plan. My Operations My Strategy tends to mean I am behind in Magic development. This means that when I fight a stand up battle I can be at a serious magical disadvantage. To counter that I have developed an Operational method I call "Wall of Spears". I produce swarms of spearmen and make a line of them, one unit per square, across the map to block all enemy movement. I surround advancing enemy units with individual spearmen units when possible. The reason I do this is to force the enemy armies to attack my individual spearmen units. This gives me the defender's advantage of being able to use magic first, usually a maximum amperage Lighting Bolt, or whatever Blast spell I have. Then the spearman "Flee"s before the enemy can cast any spells. The result of this is that the enemy can only advance very slowly and gets seriously worn down. When they are worn down enough I attack and eliminate the remnants. Now, I do of course loose spearmen doing this. But it is worth it to loose a spearman that costs 10 or 20 in order to kill a unit that might cost the enemy 100 or more. I've defeated an mixed army of Minotaurs and Manticores with a Wall of Spears, and used a few Longbowmen to wipe out the remnants when the army finally got next to my Wizard's Fortress. My Tactics My tactics emphasizes ranged attacks by mobile units that can move away from an advancing enemy and still be able to fire at them (Endurance spell is very important for me). I prefer to combine the ranged units with the heaviest cavalry I can (Paladins, Elf Lords, so on) which I use to move around the enemy's flank and concentrate on attacking their ranged units (if they have them), or attacking their line at one end to maximize the impact of the cavalry. So that is an overview of my current game play 'style'. I would love to see a discussion of the pros and cons of different 'styles'. : Nice post. Here's mine: : My Grand Strategy : I like to play with a customized wizard on hardest difficulty using a strategy majorly based on only 1 of the 3 unit types (heroes, normal units or fantastic creatures). I also like to differ between early and late game strategy. Late game strategy usually means to rely on heroes (with items granting either Regeneration or Magic Immunity and Invisibility), Paladins (with Flight and Guardian Wind) or very rare summons (Death Knights combined with Black Prayer and Resist Magic are almost unbeatable). Early game strategy means to start with Alchemy and Archmage and also choose Warlords and go for buffed cheap normal units or choose Conjurer and Sorcery Mastery and go for Phantom Warriors. For late game strategy, it's usually best to start with High Elves, Highmen or Dwarves. For early game strategy, all races are valid except for Orcs. I think Halflings are best for version 1.31 and Barbarians are best for version 1.40+. Draconians are always a decent choice. It's always nice to have spells like Heroism, Endurance, Healing, Just Cause, Web, Giant Strength (Barbarians), Water Walking, Resist Magic, Phantom Warriors and Word of Recall in the beginning. : My Strategy : My strategy depends on how I designed my wizard. If I have a late game strategy in mind, I stay defensive and small. Having too many towns increases the chance that enemy wizards declare war on you. You may also cause a war, if you conquer a neutral town to which an enemy is sending its troups to (sometimes it's even better to raze it). It's also very important to never start a combat, since it may trigger the enemy to attacking your stacks outside of towns. I usually build towns only on places with mineral deposits and at least 34% production bonus. : For early game strategy my behaviour is completely different. I am agressive and attack enemies whenever I see an advantage. Most people are not aware how many turns they waste at the beginning (always put tax rate to 2.0 and research to 0 at the beginning) and how this halts their future development. MoM is a 4X game and expanding faster than the enemy can be a crucial key to victory. Exploration is also a very important factor (I also abuse Surveyor and Patrol + moving unit in same turn). Magic Spirits are your primarly choice (in versions 1.20+). Have at least 2 of them at the start. With Magic Spirits you can also keep the enemy small by destroying its outposts. Conquering neutral towns (Phantom Warriors, Hell Hounds, Ghouls or normal units buffed with Heroism etc.) is more important than building outposts. It's also often possible to go directly for the enemy capitals. Despite being offensive, I don't build many units - some heavily buffed units roaming the countryside, and usually only 2 weak normal units guarding a town. This means, I can develop my cities more quickly (Granary + Market Place + Farmers' Market + Shrine in every town). In version 1.50 lairs give way too much gold and mana treasure, so early game strategy is even more powerful there. : My Operations : Not much to say here. Usually it's best for going directly for the enemy capital. Once an enemy wizard has to cast the Spell of Return, its imperium will fall quickly. I also burn cities a lot, but majorly because I am too lazy to handle too many cities/units. : My Tactics : My tactics involves majorly melee units. For early game it's Spearmen (especially for Barbarians, Draconians, Dark Elves, Gnolls), Swordsmen (especially for Halflings, Dwarves, Klackons) and Cavalry (especially for Highmen). Having ranged units like Longbowmen, Horsebowmen, Javelineers and Slingers is also nice but you need a while until you can produce them. All said units even become a good mid to late game choices if you can produce them with Mithril or Adamantium Weapons. My favourite late game units are also majorly melee units: Paladins, Berserkers, Griffins, Hammerhands, Stag Beetles and Warlocks. I also try to make sure that my units are able to attack flying units (Flying, Chaos Channels, Web spells) and that I can get them to desired places quickly (Endurance, Flying, Words of Recall, building roads on Myrror). If possible, I also enchant one or two units of my doom stack with Invisibilty + Magic Immunity + Spell Lock. -- 08:37, June 5, 2016 (UTC)